Building Cheap Miners : My "Secret"

[sundownz]

UPDATE : 1/30/18

I made this original post below in June 2017 -- to keep up with later developments keep on reading.

I've learned a lot along the way & have shared as much as I can in this thread.

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Hey guys,

Figured I'd share since I've learned alot on these forums.

I came across a "trick" to build cheaper 3-4 GPU miners.

I've bought 9 of these workstations so far and am having fantastic results -- they are rock solid:

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883284912&cm_re=HP_Z400-_-83-284-912-_-Product

It's hardly any more than just buying a full copy of Windows 10 to buy the whole system.

-----

In any event... there is a "secret" to these things... the power supply plug on the motherboard is "EPS" and an ATX supply will NOT work.

So what you do... is buy a PSU extension cable and modify it like so:

https://plus.google.com/photos/111388964237560787781/album/5362166283613539361/5366587361195860994

** -- This is NOT my data but it is what I found when doing my research.

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I have build 3 & 4 GPU rigs using PCI-E extenders with these systems -- I am using 750-watt Rosewill Quark PSUs for mine.

Total cost is quite low... and I can still use cheap PSUs to keep my initial cost down (I stay away from more than 4 GPUs... generally I just use 3 per system).

I plan to build up about 30 of these total over time. But I am tapped out on buying them for now so I figured I'd share the info.

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I've also found dirt cheap RAM for them... since they only come with 4 GB:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/132163798234?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Some of them have 6-slots for RAM and others have 4-slots so you can do from 8-12 GB per system with these cheap 2 GB sticks.

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One more thing... EVGA has good deals on B-Stock Geforce cards... I ordered some today:

https://www.evga.com/products/productlist.aspx?type=8&family=GeForce+10+Series+Family

You can use 4x 1060 or 3x 1070 with those HP systems & a 750-watt power supply no problems (the 750-watt QUARKS are on sale for $84.99 on Newegg right now too).

[lexele]

I have even cheaper:
I bought several Dell T5500,100$ each. They have plenty of Ram, 4 PCIe and 875W PSU. The case comes with a HDD support plate where you can put a GC.
with some risers and adapters you're setup for less than 150$

[sundownz]

I have even cheaper:
I bought several Dell T5500,100$ each. They have plenty of Ram, 4 PCIe and 875W PSU. The case comes with a HDD support plate where you can put a GC.
with some risers and adapters you're setup for less than 150$

That's great -- are they readily available at that price or a special deal situation ?

With the PSU in mind that is a great deal for sure even at a bit more money.

Thanks for sharing =)

[cptfisher]

whats the use of this when you can have NEW COMPONENTS for 5 cards (cpu motherboard ram and PSU )for 180 USD  ?  (80+ gold psu evga supernova)

[Storx]

I really like this idea, i have been comparing pricing on parts for next rig build... this is a viable option.. but i plan on going the multi psu route.. Block Operations did a post on his findings between the 1200watt server PSU vs normal ATX PSU's... he found running no matter what type of PSU at 50% of its watt rating was the most efficient at the wall on actual usage.. He switched one of his open case rigs over to a Pico PSU for motherboard, then 2 of the HP server PSU's  on a 6 card rig, the actual wattage draw at the outlet was 48 watts an hour less running the 2 server psu along with the pico psu over 1 platinum rated 1600 watt psu on the same rig with the same miner going...

[sundownz]

whats the use of this when you can have NEW COMPONENTS for 5 cards (cpu motherboard ram and PSU )for 180 USD  ?  (80+ gold psu evga supernova)

Since we are sharing our ideas -- can you share which components you are referring to for that amount ?

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I prefer to have a fully functional computer even if I sell off GPUs and stop mining -- which these refurbished systems allow. Almost all of the PCs I use around my business were originally built as miners =)

[pops87]

GIGABYTE GA-970A series (5 PCI-E) AM3 Socket 30-50usd
AMD Athlon II X2 240 AM2+ AM3 65W 10-15usd
4GB DDR3 20usd

[Marvell1]

Hey guys,

Figured I'd share since I've learned alot on these forums.

I came across a "trick" to build cheaper 3-4 GPU miners.

I've bought 9 of these workstations so far and am having fantastic results -- they are rock solid:

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883284912&cm_re=HP_Z400-_-83-284-912-_-Product

It's hardly any more than just buying a full copy of Windows 10 to buy the whole system.

-----

In any event... there is a "secret" to these things... the power supply plug on the motherboard is "EPS" and an ATX supply will NOT work.

So what you do... is buy a PSU extension cable and modify it like so:

https://plus.google.com/photos/111388964237560787781/album/5362166283613539361/5366587361195860994

** -- This is NOT my data but it is what I found when doing my research.

-----

I have build 3 & 4 GPU rigs using PCI-E extenders with these systems -- I am using 750-watt Rosewill Quark PSUs for mine.

Total cost is quite low... and I can still use cheap PSUs to keep my initial cost down (I stay away from more than 4 GPUs... generally I just use 3 per system).

I plan to build up about 30 of these total over time. But I am tapped out on buying them for now so I figured I'd share the info.

-----

I've also found dirt cheap RAM for them... since they only come with 4 GB:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/132163798234?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Some of them have 6-slots for RAM and others have 4-slots so you can do from 8-12 GB per system with these cheap 2 GB sticks.

-----

One more thing... EVGA has good deals on B-Stock Geforce cards... I ordered some today:

https://www.evga.com/products/productlist.aspx?type=8&family=GeForce+10+Series+Family

You can use 4x 1060 or 3x 1070 with those HP systems & a 750-watt power supply no problems (the 750-watt QUARKS are on sale for $84.99 on Newegg right now too).

I'd not touch those b stock cards with a 10 foot pole man...

a 1 year warranty on a $200+ card is the definition of gambling, plus the card was refurbished to begin with, so they have a history of problems ?

last time i bought used video cards in bulk from a supposedly reputable seller online all my cards died after six months of heavy mining, they barely paid for themsleves are are now sitting in the trash
and I only paid 125 per card.  Paying 350+ is maddness man

[iamnoobplzhelp]

I've thought about doing this as well, but the overhead of maintaining more systems is a PITA.

The largest expense are the GPUs anyway. I can build an 8 card rig for ~$500 (+ cost of gpus). I could get that down much further by using smaller SSD and using Linux, but I pay for the convenience. Maintaining and optimizing 1 8 card rig is worth the extra cost compared to maintaining 2x smaller rigs. Plus, it costs more power since you have to power 2 separate motherboards, CPUs, and SSD.

Last gen server/workstation hardware is cheap af though. I wish there were some options with more PCIe slots then I'd be all over it.

[sundownz]

I'd not touch those b stock cards with a 10 foot pole man...

a 1 year warranty on a $200+ card is the definition of gambling, plus the card was refurbished to begin with, so they have a history of problems ?

last time i bought used video cards in bulk from a supposedly reputable seller online all my cards died after six months of heavy mining, they barely paid for themsleves are are now sitting in the trash
and I only paid 125 per card.  Paying 350+ is maddness man

I will be sure to update the forum if I have any issues with these cards and/or if I have NO issues as well.

Although, direct from the MFG a B-Stock and/or Refurbished product should be pretty good.

Rolling the dice on this batch I suppose -- all my other cards have been new.

[Mugtaiya]

I've thought about doing this as well, but the overhead of maintaining more systems is a PITA.

The largest expense are the GPUs anyway. I can build an 8 card rig for ~$500 (+ cost of gpus). I could get that down much further by using smaller SSD and using Linux, but I pay for the convenience. Maintaining and optimizing 1 8 card rig is worth the extra cost compared to maintaining 2x smaller rigs. Plus, it costs more power since you have to power 2 separate motherboards, CPUs, and SSD.

Last gen server/workstation hardware is cheap af though. I wish there were some options with more PCIe slots then I'd be all over it.

What MB do you use for 8 GPU?

[lexele]

I have even cheaper:
I bought several Dell T5500,100$ each. They have plenty of Ram, 4 PCIe and 875W PSU. The case comes with a HDD support plate where you can put a GC.
with some risers and adapters you're setup for less than 150$

That's great -- are they readily available at that price or a special deal situation ?

With the PSU in mind that is a great deal for sure even at a bit more money.

Thanks for sharing =)

I get them on a grey market. Unit replaced by newer computers in a big companie.

@cptfisher: I have some constraint that make it the better option for me.

[Vaccinus]

I've thought about doing this as well, but the overhead of maintaining more systems is a PITA.

The largest expense are the GPUs anyway. I can build an 8 card rig for ~$500 (+ cost of gpus). I could get that down much further by using smaller SSD and using Linux, but I pay for the convenience. Maintaining and optimizing 1 8 card rig is worth the extra cost compared to maintaining 2x smaller rigs. Plus, it costs more power since you have to power 2 separate motherboards, CPUs, and SSD.

Last gen server/workstation hardware is cheap af though. I wish there were some options with more PCIe slots then I'd be all over it.

What MB do you use for 8 GPU?

the asus 270a or 270p can handle 8 gpu easily but you need to configure the bios properly, there are other msi board that can handle 8 gpu, but i don't remember their name now, or wait for the new asrock h110 btc pro board, can handle 14 gpu

[sundownz]

I have even cheaper:
I bought several Dell T5500,100$ each. They have plenty of Ram, 4 PCIe and 875W PSU. The case comes with a HDD support plate where you can put a GC.
with some risers and adapters you're setup for less than 150$

That's great -- are they readily available at that price or a special deal situation ?

With the PSU in mind that is a great deal for sure even at a bit more money.

Thanks for sharing =)

I get them on a grey market. Unit replaced by newer computers in a big companie.

Good deal -- I was able to find them about $160 on Newegg so I ordered one to try out. Thanks for the tip =)

[Storx]

I have even cheaper:
I bought several Dell T5500,100$ each. They have plenty of Ram, 4 PCIe and 875W PSU. The case comes with a HDD support plate where you can put a GC.
with some risers and adapters you're setup for less than 150$

That's great -- are they readily available at that price or a special deal situation ?

With the PSU in mind that is a great deal for sure even at a bit more money.

Thanks for sharing =)

I get them on a grey market. Unit replaced by newer computers in a big companie.

Good deal -- I was able to find them about $160 on Newegg so I ordered one to try out. Thanks for the tip =)

dang, you would pay $100 for a 875w PSU these days..

[swogerino]

I agree with keeping 3 graphics cards for a rig and it works better for these cheap old used workstations like Z400 from HP or Dell Precision T5500. Maybe I try one, I like mining with Nvidias as they are more persistent cards and usually have a longer life span that ATI cards so I think in the long run is better to mine with Nvidias.

[Storx]

So it seems people on here claim you can get a new mobo/cpu/mem combo for about the same.. can someone link me this combo... i cant find anything to beat the price of the workstation prices

[Storx]

I went ahead and ordered one of those Dell T5500 with bitcoin for future rig... figured if it truly has a 875 watt PSU i can toss 3-4 cards into and call it done..

[lexele]

Don't forget that I mentioned "adapters' for dell t5500:

- It has 2x6 pins PEG => 6 to 8 adapters

- to plug third card you may need to use adapters aswell (and it should not be an AMD card they use to much power especially through the riser).

Psu is big enough but each rail has it's limits.

- I plan to plug a 4th card, and ordered adapters for cpu2 rail (as there is no cpu 2 in my case), BGNing CPU 8Pin to PEG  8Pin. they take forever to come from china.

[2econd]

Great ideas! Thanks for sharing!